Matt and Harry only shared a couple of classes, but they enjoyed running, lived three blocks apart and trained together at least twice a week. Both were fast enough to make the Rockets Athletic Team, but Harry ran to clear his mind rather than compete, while Matt got booted off the squad after he’d ditched class and got busted smoking a joint with some girl.

‘You’re insane, bro!’ Matt said admiringly. ‘Going back in like that! School gonna throw a fit, though …’

‘You think?’ Harry said warily.

‘Not evacuating, using your cell on school premises, violating student confidentiality.’

Harry realised he’d not considered all possible consequences as he ran a hand through sweaty hair. ‘I got caught up in the moment. My Auntie Kirsten won’t be impressed either …’

Matt aimed a thumb towards student parking. ‘My sis is offering a ride home, but she ain’t gonna wait all day.’

‘There’s a video on YouTube,’ Matt and Harry overheard as they went through the gates into the student parking lot. ‘It’s Deion Powell. Looks like he’s burnt real bad.’

‘Who’s Harry Smirnov?’ a titchy girl asked as she watched his vid on her phone.

Harry buried his smirk as Matt thumped him fondly on the back and whispered, ‘Superstar.’

4 SOFIA SILVER

A few groups hung around their cars, but the student lot was mostly clear once you got beyond kids hovering round the TV crews. Harry wondered how much trouble he was in, how Aunt Kirsten would react, and desperately hoped some news editor would cough up a thousand bucks to make the risk he’d taken worthwhile.

But his attention flipped the instant he saw Matt’s hot sister. Sofia Silver was seventeen, propped on the open tailgate of her Audi SUV. She had brown eyes, cleavage and smooth, freckled skin. A grubby white Havaiana dangled off one foot and her chipped nail varnish and thrift-store vibe jarred with the sixty-thousand-dollar car.

‘Found my boy,’ Matt said happily.

‘You’ve got some balls, Harry,’ Sofia said, smiling.

Matt grabbed shotgun as Harry got confronted by another girl in the back. She was Japanese-American, sat cross-legged, messaging on her phone with black hair streaming down her back.

‘Have you met Rie?’ Sofia asked.

‘Nah,’ Harry said.

Rie gave the tiniest glance away from her phone, while Sofia used the dash cam to back out of the parking space.

‘Everyone’s online saying JJ’s behind the explosion,’ Rie announced, slipping her phone into a canvas bag as the Audi joined a short line of student cars waiting to turn on to the highway. ‘JJ’s not a genius, but he’s no dummy either. It’s just too obvious.’

‘The teacher who marched me out mentioned JJ,’ Harry said. ‘Who is he?’

‘The Rockets’ backup quarterback,’ Matt said from up front as his big sister merged into traffic. ‘You know what a quarterback is now, don’t you, Harry?’